A CHINESE lottery ticket seller has been jailed for life for fraud for taking advantage of a system flaw to cash 28 million yuan ($4.07m) in tickets illegally, state media said today.
Zhao Liqun discovered the flaw in the Welfare Lottery "3D" system in 2005 that let a person buy tickets with the right numbers within five minutes of their being announced, sources at the Intermediate People’s Court in Anshan, northeastern Heilongjiang province, said.
Zhao, 36, who ran three lottery stalls in Anshan, "bought" the announced numbers many times over.
"He asked his neighbours and friends to cash the tickets at the Welfare Lottery Centre and to bring back the money," newsagency Xinhua quoted the court sources as saying.
The lottery centre found the prizes were illegally claimed and police arrested Zhao in January.